Your character wakes up in a bed. It is not their own. The bed is in a barracks. You remember coming to the castle, but nothing else until you woke up this morning. Any weapons your character had immediately before this point are missing.

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Welcome to this arcthing of FC! As stated in the discussion thread, this will be the sidestory/posting thread for this arc's specific quests. For now, just post your character waking up/existing in the battlegrounds. Once I know who's in and who isn't, I can begin assigning quests!

On waking, Likovya's first thought was to find her knives. Her second, less important, was to figure out where she was. All she knew was that she was lying in a bed, in what looked like some kind of barracks. She hadn't been anywhere with a roof for a month, and hadn't lain in a bed fore about a week before that. The last place she remembered falling asleep was on a patch of nearly dry land in a mist-filled swamp. After that, she had blurred memories of running, and stumbling into brackish water. She wasn't sure what she had been running from, only that it had been dangerous and with lots of teeth. There might have been lots of them. Then there was a castle, and then... nothing.

She scrambled out of bed and found her boots at the foot. Neither had a knife. Under the bed was her jacket, roughly folded, and her belt. Her other five knives were also gone, and so were her wrist harnesses. Likovya pressed her knuckle against her teeth, trying not to panic. She was alone, confused, and unarmed, but she wasn't going to panic.

She put on her belt but left her jacket on the bed, heading out with bared arms. She wasn't going to hide behind anything, and now that she didn't have her knives, there was nothing to hide. She just hoped she could fight as well with her fists as she could with her blades.

The door to the room opened to an empty hall, and she was now sure she was in a barracks. She hadn't been in one before, but she'd heard about them from some of the other circus members, and this looked exactly like what the trapeze artist had been talking about. Likovya walked a few steps before breaking into a run. She turned the first corner she found and kept running, pausing only to push open doors and look down other hallways.

After a few minutes, it was clear she was lost.

Likovya pressed her fists against the wall. I will not panic. I'm lost, and I don't have my knives, but I will not panic. Not now, not ever.

It didn't work, and her screams of fear and frustration echoed against the walls.

Marcus scrambled out of the bunk when he heard the screaming and was immediately assailed by colors in his right eye. "Saints above!" He cried out, slapping his hand over they eye. This blotted out the other colors but replaced all vision in the eye with a deep green blur. What in seven hells is going on here? The big man felt about the room for his spear only to find nothing but empty sheathes and holders.

As he tried to figure out what was going on the lights and colors in his right eye gradually became more manageable until he could filter out most of it and see others surrounding coherent shapes. It was still more input than he was used to but it at least it wasn't disorienting him anymore. Well that's terrible. I have no idea where I am and I'm unarmed.

The warrior debated for a moment as whether or not to even bother leaving the room yet. Then again he couldn't just leave the screaming uninvestigated, leaving it alone might keep him alive longer but if something was in here with him it wouldn't do any good to hide from it. Where was he anyway? Okay...amnesia maybe? Don't know what caused this but I think me before now was probably here for some reason. But how did I even get amnesia? He felt about his head. Doesn't feel like any trauma there. Magic?

Marcus turned as he heard another scream. I'll figure it out later The warrior opened the hall and moved about the halls trying to find the person screaming. There were many people in similar rooms all surrounded by their own glows but it looked the only other one out of their room was the one screaming. He eventually managed to find the person and turned a corner to find a woman in traveling clothes leaned up against the wall. The soldier cleared his throat. "Um...excuse me, but what the hell is the screaming for?"

Mirae blinked her way awake. She didn’t remember stopping at an inn for the night; she didn’t remember being anywhere near an inn. She’d been almost out of Lenado, all the inns were by a town, and those were all deeper in. There wasn’t even a guard for the border, Lenado just bled into the next…

She shot up, suddenly alert. Her bag was gone, her coin pouch was gone. Someone had been here, probably moved her here from wherever she'd been. She hadn't seen anyone for a couple of days, but she didn't have a horse. There isn’t a holding cell this far out. She hoped, anyway.

She… She’d thought she’d made it to the castle before apparently passing out. “Maybe this is it, then?” Mirae looked around at the wooden walls. It was definitely not an inn. There wasn’t so much as a shelf or a hook for a coat, just an arrow slit of a window that made the room seem even smaller than it was. She shuddered. I need to move.

Her cloak had been folded and put at the foot of the bed. Mirae shook it open on the way to the door, a little offput by how light it was. The knives that usually weighed it down must have been taken. That… That was fine. She could run if need be. And if this really was the castle, maybe they wouldn’t look too closely at another mage.

Someone was screaming down the hall to her left. She hurriedly took the other turn, putting as much distance between herself and another person as she could. She just had to find the way out.

Jenny kept herself still, forcing herself not to panic. Strange room, strange bed. It's okay. You were expecting something like this. No reason to be frightened.

She turned her head slightly, trying to get a better view of her room. Presumably she was in the castle... but it didn't look like any of the castles she'd pictured when she heard stories about them. There was a row of beds stretching down the length of the long, narrow room. She didn't see her bow anywhere, nor any of her other supplies.

She closed her eyes and laid back straight again. Don't be afraid,[i] she told herself over and over, [i]the castle means to scare you, don't let it, you have a job to do...

Just when she had calmed herself down and gotten slowly to her feet, she heard a scream.

Fern woke with a start, moving from laying down to sitting upright at surprising speed. He gasped, frantically looking around at the very plain room around him. After a few moments, he sighed and laid back into the bed. He was alright, here.....

....wherever here was. He sat up again, looking around the room for clues. He had been fighting the guardian with Pliny, and then Pliny had tried to activate the artifact-ritual that it had been guarding in an attempt to escape, and....now they were here? Or he was, at least. Still, if he had survived, it was likely that Pliny had survived as well, though if whatever the reckless old man had done had not worked, being not pulped was....surprising. And they would have known if anyone else had been in those ruins as well, so being rescued seemed an unlikely scenario.

Well then, what if it had worked? Whatever and wherever the ritual was supposed to take them, he was likely there. Not that he knew where that was. Or what had happened after blacking out (and why had he passed out? Was the functioning that rough on him, or was it from general stress?).

He sighed, and stretched. So, he was in an unknown location, under the hospitality of unknown people. He felt pretty well all things considered, so he slid himself out of bed, reflexively checking for his supplies.

.....oh dear.

So, he was in an unknown location, with unknown hosts, and basically helpless. He frantically checked the room over, looking for anything he could have missed, finding nothing. He slumped onto the ground, trembling slightly. In theory everything was replaceable, and it was entirely plausible that his hosts still had all of his supplies, but that means they could have gone through his notes....everything important was memorized rather than written but still...those were his Summoning notes, of what self-study he had done so far. If someone started to decipher them, and maybe grasped some of the things not said in them....no. No, this wasn't a good line of thought. He was not entirely helpless, just mostly. He needed to get out of here, to figure things out. And he certainly was not going to find them in this room.

The door as it turned out, was not unlocked. He poked his head out, and seeing nobody in the corridor began cautiously making his way down the hallway, hoping to run into someone else.

Krika>Narra has tiny jerk people in her socks.>We are affirming our collective jerkhood by committing genocide on them.Guyshane>I'm going to read the logs and pray that that sentence makes more sense in context>No>No it does not

When Darren opened his eyes all that he could see was the wood on the ceiling. His mind shifted to the ship’s dormitory, the last place he remembered falling asleep. But this place was no ship. There wasn’t any wood creaking neither any rocking from part of the ship to make him nauseous. There was no rocking at all.

”So, how did I get here?” he thought, reviewing all the events that had led to Wendy and him traversing the sea. As much as he tried, he could not remember all the details. He remembered the salty air and the unpleasant crewmen, but Wendy didn’t seem to mind it.

”There was… water.” the thought briefly appeared on his mind, and just as quick as it had come, he scolded himself over pointing out the obvious. Then again, he felt as if there was something odd with that memory. There was water, that much he could tell, but just what had happened back there?

Suddenly, he heard a scream off in the distance. His heart started pounding with anticipation, his hand already making his way to grab one of his knives… except they weren’t were they supposed to be. In fact, they were completely gone. He could feel how his body tensed itself as terror started to invade his mind.

“Did we… get into a fight?” he thought as several images flashed in his mind: Wendy being threatened by the captain, several people coming out from nowhere, the ship covered in ice spikes and finally… he jumping down into the sea with the book in his hand…

“The book!” he yelled out loud in realization. He frantically started searching the room for it, pulling the blankets from the bed and checking the small desk next to the door. It wasn’t there at all. He contemplated what to do, but the fear that quickly began to take hold of him wasn’t letting him think straight.

”The book’s gone, my knives are gone… Wendy?” there was no way she could have followed once he jumped from the ship onto the crashing waters of the sea… or was there? Maybe he had been captured by those people from the ship, in which case, maybe Wendy could be nearby.

Trying to calm himself, he decided the best he could do was explore this place. A quick check revealed that the door wasn’t locked and there was nobody passing through the hall outside, not even a guard. Relieved that there was a chance he hadn’t been captured, he stepped outside, trying to make the least noise possible, still, a thought remained on his mind keeping him from feeling calm.

”If I’m not trapped… then what is this place?”

Why should we do the right thing?-Well... because it's the right thing to do, there's no other good reason.

Am I a bad guy trying to be good, or a good guy trying to convince himself that he's not the bad guy?

Ben hadn't been in a barracks since she'd squired for Alex, an age and a half ago. Still, she wasn't particularly surprised to wake up in one now; lately, she'd grown accustomed to ending up in strange places with no real explanation for how she got there beyond "Magically-Induced Geographic Instability, eh?"

What bothered her more, as her vision focused and she sat up, was that there was no trunk full of her belongings by the foot of the bed, or near the door. Or by the head of the bed, or against the opposite wall, or anywhere in her room. She was absolutely certain that she had had her luggage with her the last time she left home. She was absolutely certain that she did not have it with her now. Not a-bloody-gain...

Rolling her eyes and standing to stretch, she felt a gaping absence that cut much deeper than the lost luggage-- or rather, failed to cut, because it wasn't there to do any cutting: her sword. She'd be damned if anyone expected her to wake up and muddle along without a sword at hand, magical geography or now. Setting her mouth in a thin line, she stomped out of the room, ready to investigate.

--------------------------------

Kevin woke with his arm curled around the empty space beside him, and wondered why. He had never shared a bed with anyone since he outgrew the childhood habit of crawling into his guard's bed for comfort from bad dreams, when he was very small. So why did he feel inexplicably sad, like something that had been an integral part of him were missing?

Now he made a quick survey of the room, a barracks that reminded him of home, and took stock of what he had with him. Little enough; a change of clothes folded by the foot of the bed, a gold ring on his finger that he was loath to take off even though he didn't remember putting it on, the clothes on his back, and a charm at his neck that gave a mental tug when he touched it, declaring itself to be a focus. Probably for Ben, he figured. Guess I should go find her. He left the room, rubbing the charm self-consciously, and froze, torn between following its tug to the friend he had left home to catch up with, and following the scream in the opposite direction to offer some sort of help.

Likovya looked up. A tall man stood beside her, looking down at her. Normally she might have been relieved to see someone else there, and it might have relaxed her to find out she wasn't alone in this place. The two might have become allies of a sort and found a way out.

But his eye...

"Who are you?" she snapped, stepping away and raising her fists. He was too tall for her to land a good blow on his face, and she didn't want to get her hands anywhere near that eye of his. Still, if she could hit his sternum hard enough, that might stun him so she could escape, or at least get a good head start. She didn't think he could curse her with that eye. It didn't look like an Evil Eye; she had seen one of those in Calesvol, or at least what a man had claimed was an Evil Eye. "What are you doing here? Where the hell are my knives?"

At least he didn't seem like one of the raiders out in the wastes, or one of the pirates who had tried to impress her onto their ship, or even the various guardsmen of towns where it turned out wandering alone and heavily armed was suspicious and being a foreigner who took various bounty jobs was illegal. He had said "excuse me", and so far he hadn't made a move to hurt her. He might be trapped here against his will, just like she was. If so, he was taking it a lot better.

Likovya's mind was racing too fast for her to settle on any course of action but what three years of wandering had taught her was safest. She took another step back, fists still raised, and glanced around. "The screaming's because this isn't where I fell asleep," she said, deciding it couldn't hurt to answer his question. "Someone brought me here, and whoever did that robbed me. Now, have you got any answers, or are you going to keep staring at me with that demon-cursed eye of yours?" She didn't believe in demons, exactly, but that eye might be enough to convince her otherwise.

Anji sat up sharply, breath coming in short spurts. A scream echoed through an empty barracks, and the short street rat frowned. "Zi?" she called out softly.

When no answer was forthcoming, the girl stood, quickly discovering that she was unarmed. Oh, no. Looking down, she saw a ring on her left hand that had definitely not been there when she had been asleep. Shrugging at her good fortune, another scream sent icy fear crashing through her veins. "Eliziya?!"

The short thief began to sprint down the hallways, looking desperately for anyone alive.

“Bloody crows…” Anji sighed. “Look, I don’t got time for none of your games. Zi?!” She shouted hoarsely, going still to listen for a response.

Kevin waited politely through the resounding silence. “No games,” he insisted, beginning to laugh in frustration. “I’m just this guy, you know?”

She cut her eye at him, and slid back, eyes evaluating. “Torvantine.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Torvantine.” Kevin held out his hand politely. “May I help you look for your… sister?”

Anji stared at the hand as if it had snakes growing out of it. “What are you, some kin’ of prince?” She seemed to pick a direction at random, and began jogging down the hall.

Kevin grinned crookedly, and withdrew his hand. As he trotted after her, he rubbed the focus at his throat with an expression of increasing perplexity. Its tug told him that Ben should be right where this Torvantine was. She was right, he decided in exasperation at last, it’s shoddy magic at best. At least I got to meet someone intriguing as a result.

Floating's castle will run on a sort of rolling basis. Meaning unlike the block form I've used for like two years, I'm going to just make a quest or two every couple of days on an as needed basis. Hopefully this will mean more development and less waiting, but we'll see. (Yet again, pretty much everything in this RP is just me testing things to see how they work)

ANYWAY

Floating's Game Turn 1Quest Title: O Brother Where Art Thou?Quest Takers: Likovya (RussetDivinity) and Marcus (Guyshane) Quest Objective: Find the outside. GM Notes: Okay so, the whole floor is a combat school. The barracks are not the main part of this school. There are at least three fields used for full combat, several training areas, and the rest of a trappings of an army. Go all out. Right now it should be unpopulated (sans the rest of the amnesiacs) but there are four teachers scattered around. Notify me or Qara if you need them.

“S-show yourself!” she shouted, face drawn tight and pale as she scrambled back against the wall. “Anji!”

What in all the blazes are you doing? I take my attention away from you for a few days and- Hm. Where are we anyway?

A golden eye opened out of the air and peered about dispassionately. Bright light poured out from behind the eye as a brilliant wing unfurled by a calmly undulating tentacle. Eliziya shrieked and held out a blazing fist to ward off the strange apparition.

“Get away from me! G-Go away! Anji, help!”

Feathers unruffled by her violent outburst, the serene creature floated out of the door.

You’ve never seen this place before, said the voice, and Zi could have sworn that the unseen speaker was frowning. There’s something at work here.

Heart thumping so hard it felt as though her chest was about to burst, the girl stood up, brandishing her flame-wreathed arms.

“Whoever the f-fuck you a-are, leave me alone! G-Go away!”

Now, and Eliziya could feel the speaker concentrating its attention towards her, pull yourself together, girl. For goodness’ sake, the last time you were this flustered was when you first met Tamar. There was a perceptible sigh. Calm yourself, girl.

“I am calm!” she yelled, face red with indignation. “I am very calm, and I can’t see you! Who by all the saints are you?”

Listen to me, curse your skinny bones. Your sister had a problem months ago. Your solution happened to draw me into a part of your soul. You can’t get rid of me, otherwise the other beasts will take my place and they won’t be as friendly and loving as I am. We’ve had this conversation before.

“Conversation before, conversation before… Who- no, what are you?” Zi’s tone, while still wary, carried more than a hint of curiosity. “What have you done?”

I have done nothing, child, thank you very much for that. If anything, that’s what I should be asking you. What have you done? Where are we?

“Where are we? I… I don’t know.” Zi tugged on her furred ear nervously, then paused and shook her tail. “What the… You, voice, whatever you are. Whoever you are. What is this?”

It’s your tail, dullard, it said with exaggerated patience. Don’t you rem- ah, but you wouldn’t. Just roll with it.

“Roll with it,” Zi repeated faintly. “Anji. Anji, where are you?”

Peering out the door revealed a complete absence of people. Then a scream echoed down the corridor and Zi shrank back into the room. Maybe it was safer inside.

Send the Tutelary out to check, suggested the Voice. Send Numen.

“Numen?”

Oh for- It’s the thing you chased out. It’s a part of you, a magical construct. Imbecile, added the Voice as an afterthought.

“I’m not an imbecile…”

Well, you sure ain’t no genius, I can tell you that. Just find out what’s going on. You’ve been through worse, trust me.

“Trust me,” echoed Zi. Casting a final glance at her tail, she crept out of the room.

If you can make it better, don't make it sentient.

agoraoptera wrote: Shane just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I get to be Godzilla

Marcus blinked at the woman dumbfounded and lightly touched the side of his face. “Wait, what’s wrong with my eye? Ever since I woke up the vision from it has been strange, colors and shapes for no reason. What the hell is wrong with it?”

“It’s… well, it’s…” The woman frowned. “It looks kind of like a diamond. Does everyone have that where you come from? Where do you come from? Where are we?” Her voice was building up like she was going to scream again.

“Look would you just relax? Freaking out everytime you talk won’t help us here!” The big man snapped before taking a deep breath to calm himself. “My name is Marcus. The diamond eye is not common, I didn’t even know I had it until you just told me. I’m from a little country I can guarantee you’ve never heard of. I have no idea where we are, I had just left my mercenary company to go on an expedition to the Floating Castle. Last thing I remember is checking into an inn for the night and then I wake up here.”

“So… you don’t know what’s going on either?” The woman lowered her fists, but she still looked on edge. “I’m Likovya. I’m from… all around, really. I might have traveled a good bit of the world by now.” She looked around. “We’re really on a floating castle?”

Marcus shrugged “That’s my best guess. Like I said I don’t remember how I got here, I’d say I have amnesia but I checked for signs of head trauma and...nothing.”

“I guess we’ll have to get out, then.” Likovya pressed her hands against her hips. “I don’t suppose you saw a door anywhere?”

“Not unless you count the doors to the other bedrooms, and I doubt those’ll help us much.” The soldier ran his hand along the wall. “This building is odd. Its like a barrack if the goal was to have the most inefficient barracks to ever exist.”

The woman looked around the hall. “What’s so inefficient about it? It looks just about like what I thought a barracks would be.”

“Barracks are essentially just a main hall, sleeping quarters and latrines all connected by simple hallways. Its really just living area there’s no reason for this thrice-damned maze,” The warrior explained.

“If it’s any sort of barracks, it ought to have a main hall,” Likovya said. “That should lead right to the door outside.” She took a few steps before stopping. “Weapons! Do you think there would be a place we could find weapons at all?”

Marcus shrugged. “Armory is usually nearby the barracks. But if they wanted us to have weapons why’d they take our’s away in the first place?”

“Maybe they don’t want us to have weapons. Depending on where you are, that’s one of two different bad signs. Either whoever runs this place is evil and wants to keep everyone helpless, or wherever we are just got out of some terrible civil war and everyone decided to go around unarmed for a while.” Likovya frowned. “Can a castle have a civil war?”

“Dunno.” Marcus replied. “I do know that unarmed , we’ll-all-be-good bullshit never works for very long.”

“It nearly worked in one city,” Likovya said. “Then I started a fight. It’s a long story. Anyway, you ought to find the way out of here. You sound like you know barracks better than I do.”

Marcus looked around in confusion. “Well, yeah but like I said I’ve never seen this set-up.”

“Fine. We’ll go this way.” Likovya turned on her heel and started walking. “You can keep up if you want. Just don’t get in my way. I’m getting out of here and off this castle as soon as I possibly can.”

Marcus shrugged and followed along at a measured pace, keeping an eye out for any surprises. Must be nice to have somewhere to go to besides this place.

Likovya led him aimlessly along, taking turns seemingly at random and sometimes pausing to double back and go down a different hall. It was pretty obvious that she didn’t know where she was going, but she did manage to find a door that would open. She poked her head through and looked around before slumping her shoulders. “It’s not the way out,” she said. “It’s just a large room with a lot of tables and chairs. There’s no one in there, either.”

Marcus snorted. “Just a room full of tables and chairs, You mean a room full of things we can break to make weapons.” The warrior moved her off to one side before throwing his shoulder up against the door, rattling it in it’s frame. He backed up and hit it again this time managing to break the lock. “Well, are you coming or not?” The warrior asked as he walked inside.

“I’m coming,” Likovya said, following him into the room. “I wouldn’t know how to make a weapon out of a chair, unless I had to throw it or something. I’m a knifethrower.” She picked up one of the chairs and gave it an experimental swing. “It’s unwieldy and uses too many hands to control. I don’t like it.”

Marcus took another chair and swung it against the ground, breaking it. “Try the legs, the weight on them might be about right for you.” He said gesturing. Then the warrior flipped a table on it’s side and kicked the leg off. He picked it up and gave it a swing. “This’ll make a decent enough club for me.”

Likovya dropped the chair and continued walking down the room. “What sort of place is this, anyway? Would they have used this as a meeting area?”Marcus nodded. “Probably that and a mess hall, that’s just my best guess though.”

“A mess hall? Isn’t that a sort of dining room? Would there be a kitchen anywhere near here?”

“Should be.”

Likovya grinned. “That’s where we’ll find the best things,” she said, and she headed for a door at the end of the mess hall. “If I’m right, you won’t have to bother with breaking chairs to make clubs.”

Marcus shrugged and hefted the club. “All right, after you.”

Likovya pushed open the door and peered into the next room. “It’s a kitchen, all right. It looks empty, too. We’re in luck.” She gestured for Marcus to join her, but then darted inside and began rifling through drawers. She didn’t stop until she had found a long, serrated knife. “Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll do until I can get something else. There are plenty more over here, and there should be mallets and rolling pins and platters.” She waved the knife a bit before nodding in approval. “Kitchens are the best place for weapons. You can even use them for something more than killing people, which is even better.”

“Its not a bad place, although you’re trying too hard by suggesting rolling pins.” Marcus dropped the table leg and picked up a nearby cleaver. “Especially with stuff like this around.”

“Rolling pins are better for breaking bones.” Likovya grabbed a few smaller knives and stuck them in her belt. “Right. I’m ready to move on. Where to next?”

“Well if this is the kitchen we should be fairly close to the outside. Unless they were planning on bringing in the food with magic keeping the kitchen far away from the smokehouse and the like would end up with an awful lot of spoiled food.” Marcus explained as he looked about the room for a door.

“See if you can find a scullery. Any decent castle has a scullery.” Likovya began opening some of the cupboards. “There might be some food around here, too,” she said. “At least, if there is, it will be food that keeps, and that’s the sort we’ll want to take with us.”

Marcus shook his head in response. “Only a little bit of keepable food will be in here. If we want enough to make a daring escape we’ll need to find the smokehouse since that’s where the meat rations will be. Or I guess that might be a smoke room if this is a castle.”

Likovya sighed. “I suppose you’re right. No respectable castle would keep nuts and root vegetables just lying around. I’ve never had to think like royalty before.” She closed the cupboard. “A smoke room, then. That’d have to be close to the outside, unless they wanted to suffocate everyone.”“Yes it would.” The warrior replied nodding. “Meaning that we are, officially back to square one.”

“Square one, but with weapons.” Likovya headed back to the mess hall. “Let’s keep moving. I’m getting kind of curious about this place.” She seemed a bit more comfortable now that she had a few knives hanging from her belt.

Marcus stroked his beard thoughtfully as they walked. “Shouldn’t there be some guards or something here? I mean, why take all our equipment and supplies if they aren’t going to confine us? This place makes less sense the more I think about it.”

“All the more reason to find out more about it. I wonder what’s down here.” Likovya turned down a wide hall. “Looks promising, right?”

Marcus let out a low chuckle. “Clearly have we have very different meanings of that word.”

“Well, we wanted to get out, didn’t we? The way I figure it, the main doors will be at the end of a main hall, which should be the largest.” Likovya started down the hall, calling over her shoulder, “If you want to try to find a secret way out, be my guest. I’m leaving through the front door, and no one had better try to stop me.”

Marcus held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey I’m not gonna stop you. In fact I’m right behind you...well a few steps behind you. Out of explosion range behind you.”

Likovya laughed and toyed with one of the knives. “Don’t worry. I don’t have any explosives with me. Even if I did, I don’t use them. I’m volatile enough already with just blades that I don’t need to add fire to the mix.”

“Oh I know you don’t have any explosives on you. I just think if any of the guards are mages, I don’t want to be caught up in the fireball they’re gonna throw at you.” The warrior shrugged. “I mean that’s just common sense.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” Likovya paused, but only for a moment before walking on. “Well, if I die, and you happen to find a red-haired fool of a bastard called Fitzroy, tell him… well, just tell him I’m dead.” She paused where the hall intersected another and looked down both ways. “They’re the same. Left or right?”

“Right.” Marcus suggested. “I think I can see some...well lets call them blurs for now, like the ones that are surrounding the others who were in here with us. This eye thing my be a bit odd, but its starting to come in handy.”

Likovya turned sharply right. “So… are blurs people? Can you see auras, or whatever they’re called?” She looked over her shoulder and glared. “What can you tell about me?”“You have a truly disturbing amount of red in your’s. I can’t tell what it represents but based off of how you’re acting I’d go with anger.” Marcus replied.

“Nothing about shadows?”

“Look what do you want, I’m getting a lot of information and right now I can only describe half of it. Give me more time and I might be able to give you a more complete idea.” He shot back, obviously agitated.

“Just forget it,” Likovya said. “It’s just that the last time I found someone who could see things about me… never mind. Let’s just get out of here. Then we can go our own separate ways.”

“Well then, after you.”

Likovya made another turn, this time to the left, and led Marcus to a thick door. It opened when she slammed her shoulder against it, and she stepped out into sunlight. “I thought you said this was a castle,” she said, looking around suspiciously.

Marcus exited the building himself before replying. “No I said the castle was my best guess. Besides haven’t you ever heard the stories? Each floor is supposed to be its own continent. For all we know this could be the castle.”

Likovya’s eyes grew wide. “That’s this castle? I thought that was just a myth and I’d been captured by some deranged swamp king.”

Marcus looked at her incredulously. “I said ‘Floating Castle’ How many other castles in the sky have you ever heard of?”

“Counting the ones I’ve allegedly visited and conquered?” She paused to think. “Thirty-three. But none of them had wide open fields or skies or… is that a forest?” She took a few steps in the direction of a distant group of trees. “This doesn’t look like a castle so much as some kind of training ground.”

“Yes and isn’t that a disturbing thought.” Marcus noted as he began turning in a circle looking for threats. “I mean, training for what? And why us? I mean me it kind of makes sense, I’ve been in the fighting business for six or seven years now. But what about you, you said you were some kind of performer didn’t ya?”

“I was a knifethrower at a circus. Master Weston’s Traveling Phantasmagorium, or something like that. I think he changed the name for every town. Did you ever hear of it?” Before Marcus could answer, she continued, “Anyway, I left about three years ago and traveled on my own. At first it was through the wastes, and it’s very hard to go through the wastes as a young woman without learning how to fight. I got a bit of a reputation, but I didn’t think it would be enough for anyone to capture me and want to train me.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. If this didn’t feel like a trap before it definitely does now.”

“Well, it looks like they’ve got us both trapped here.” Likovya turned to Marcus. “I’m pretty sure you’d be happier if you didn’t have to deal with me, and we might as well give them multiple things to look at. Unless you’ve got some strenuous objection, I’m going to look around the training ground, maybe investigate the forest.” She gave him something between a wave and a salute with one of her smaller knives before heading off.

The woman, though it was difficult to discern gender through the layers of clothing they wore, was staring intently at a wall.

From around a corner that the corridor had a couple yards down from where she was standing, a head popped out, quickly checking in each direction before focusing in on the woman. It pulled back around the corner, removing itself from sight. Several moments of waiting later, the head emerged again. “Hi?”

“I don’t think that wall exists.” The woman poked at the seemingly intractable wall, eyebrows knitted together in consternation. “What do you think?”

The head glanced at the wall, back to the woman, back to the wall, and then back to the woman. “I...think that it is a wall, and that I am not certain what would cause you to believe that it does not exist, and thus I cannot really come to a conclusion to satisfactorily answer your question.”

“It sounds hollow.” The woman knocked on the wood, a resounding crack echoing down the chamber.

The head cautiously nodded. “It does indeed sound like there is space on the other side, yes.”

Turning to the man, the woman smiled. “Would you like to help me break it down?”

The head paused. “I….do not think that I have any particular skills that would be useful or helpful in breaking down that wall.”

“But you are well versed in breaking down others?”

“Well….not especially, no? Anything that I could attempt to collapse that wall would require components or materials that I am unfortunately missing. Without them, I only have what little body strength I have as an aid to solving the problem.”

“Ah well, I suppose it will just have to remain standing.” The woman pouted for a moment, before thrusting out her hand. “I’m Lori. And you are?”

The man hesitantly emerged from around the corner, carefully taking the offered hand. “My name is Fern.”

“That is an odd name. You are not a plant.”

Fern shook his head. “I am not.”

“You can stay.” Lori nodded to herself in agreement. “I suppose we should make our way outside. You are an alchemist?”

Fern shook his head. “Mage. I do magic.” He paused for a split second. “You?”

“I am an Earth mage.” She glanced back at him. “I do magic as well.”

“Oh, um, I suppose that it is nice to meet a fellow mage.”

“Isn't it?” Lori turned a corner, and narrowed her eyes. “Wait a second…. You seem familiar…”

Fern glanced at her. “I do not think I have ever met you in the past, although some sort of resemblance to a person you know is not out of the question I would think.”

Lori blinked twice, and shrugged. “Would you like to work together during our time here? I believe that the conquering of this castle will require allies.”

Fern opened his mouth, and closed it, taking in that statement. “Umm. You know where we are?”

“Well, it stands to reason that as I was planning on going to a castle floating in the sky and was suddenly and drastically transported to a strange place with no weapons or armor that I am either going mad or at my destination. Either way, I could use an ally and possible assistant.”

Fern paused, and an expression of both anger and thoughtfulness crossed his face. “Huh. It did lead to an actual location.” He shook his head. “And you want to conquer it?”

“Well, if it is all it claims to be, there are worlds of discovery to be had! We could find new species here!”

Fern paused, and stared at her. “Umm. I suppose? I did not think this place existed, so I could not say what it could offer…”

Fern shook his head. “Nononono, I did not say that! I simply have no idea what the place could be or what it could offer, since the only things that I heard of that referred to it were written on the crumbling walls of ancient ruins that seemed more like religious myth than anything else, and you seem to be much more informed of the particulars than I am, so I do not know what I could do to help out here with my skill set.”

“Logical analysis seems to be your strength, so far.” Lori observed a room that had been tossed about, chairs missing their legs. “Also, it appears that we are not alone here. I would suggest that we continue making our way outside more quickly.”

Fern nodded in agreement. “I would rather like to find out what happened to my supplies, and if at all possible retrieve them, since they, ah, had some particular things that I would need in them that might be a touch, umm, tricky to collect otherwise.”

“All right, we shall endeavor to locate them.”

Krika>Narra has tiny jerk people in her socks.>We are affirming our collective jerkhood by committing genocide on them.Guyshane>I'm going to read the logs and pray that that sentence makes more sense in context>No>No it does not

Everything she'd heard, though, implied that arriving in the Floating Castle would be a much different experience than this. Giselle had expected open spaces, wilderness. She didn't expect a cramped, spartan bedroom with a single window through which she could see... some sort of athletic courtyard. And she'd definitely expected to keep hold of her belongings. After all, she'd been given a gift just before leaving... no. She wouldn't think about that. She needed her wits about her. Her new location was no place for emotions.

Losing the gift was neither here nor there. She probably would have stashed it somewhere and forgotten about it anyway. Much more significant was the loss of her bow. That was irreplaceable. She would have to find a way to get it back... somehow. Which meant discovering more about her surroundings, first off.

From the other side of her door, Giselle heard the sounds of a commotion. People were screaming, running, shouting. She wanted no part of that. Without her bow, she was helpless. At close quarters, her bow wouldn't even have helped that much.

The window was too narrow to escape through, so Giselle stayed put until the sounds of fuss and bother died down. Then she cautiously poked her head into the hallway outside, and began to pick her way through the halls. Finding her bow would be ideal. Finding more information about where she'd landed would be an acceptable alternative.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after.

Quest Title: Mess HallQuest Description: You found the kitchen in this place (a little picked-through by the previous questers).Quest Goal: Make food for everyone on this floor. People need to eat, after all!Quest Takers: Giselle (narrativedilettante) and Darren (Blurred_9L)

Quest Title: Teacher’s Pet?Quest Description: As you’re looking for your sister (/for a random stranger’s sister), an instructor appears! Finally, somebody who knows something of what’s going on in this place! Anyway, he needs you guys to do a placement test.Quest Goal: Succeed in the placement test, I guess?Quest Takers: Anji (eli_gone_crazy) and Kevin (Qara-Xuan Zenith)

Quest Deadline for both quests is Tuesday, August 12th, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

”This place seems endless…” Darren thought as he turned around the corner of the hall to see another set of doors. He admitted to himself he was not the best at orienting himself, but he could swear he had been walking around in the weird facility for about half an hour. He had had to sneak around a couple of times, once he thought he had seen a man wearing a set of armor and had to enter one of the adjacent rooms. Oddly enough, it looked exactly like the one he had been in moments ago: a bed at the center of the room and a small window frame along the wall, big enough to peek outside, but not big enough to escape. He had looked outside from the slightly open door, as soon as he hid inside the room, but the armor-clad man seemed just as confused as he was, and after a few moments left the immediate area.

The event repeated itself two other times. He tried to find an explanation for it, but couldn’t come up with any and he was getting tired of being lost. He remembered hearing screams a while ago, but even those had died down, so all he could do was keep going.

He turned another corner and saw an empty hallway with a wooden door at the end. He walked up to it and slowly opened it. The door creaked, making Darren jump backwards, his hand trying to find a lost weapon. ”Oh, right. I forgot” he thought as he tried to calm down, opening the door fully with another screech.

The room on the other end of the door was bigger than the bedrooms he had previously been in, in fact, the place didn’t even look like a bedroom at all. There were several tables and chairs laid across the room. He walked up to the nearest one and noticed stains on them. A huge gate was on one end of the room with another, more normal looking door on the opposite end.

He thought of trying to open the gate, but he couldn’t find any sort of mechanism to open it. He pushed, but the metal wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, he kicked the gate, the hit causing a louder sound than he had anticipated. Panicking, he looked around the room for a place to hide in case somebody had heard him kicking the metal gate and came to investigate.

”Under a table?” he thought at first, but later belittle himself for thinking like a ten year old. If he wanted to hide he would need to go back the way he came or go into the mysterious door on the other end of the room. That wasn’t much of a choice for him.

Rushing to the unopened door, he pushed it out of his way and entered the new room hoping that nobody was there. He closed the door quickly and pushed his back against it, slowly sliding off of it. He sighed with relief.

He looked around from the door. The room had several windows on one of the walls, but again, none of them were big enough to make for a possible escape route. He looked to his side and found several aligned shelves and drawers.

”Might as well take a look around” he said to himself as he picked himself up and walked to the nearest shelf. Opening the drawer, he found… spoons? He frowned and opened another drawer. This time he found forks. He opened the next drawer and whispered ”I knew it”. Knives of all shapes and sizes. He grabbed a couple of small ones and hid them inside a pocket on his cloak. He also grabbed a slightly bigger one, hoping that nobody would notice their absence.

Walking through corridor after corridor, Giselle had begun to wish for pen and paper, to keep track of where she’d been. After a while, she even wished for another commotion, just to break up the monotony. Even danger would be preferable to dying of boredom.

She changed her mind when, on approaching yet another door at the end of yet another hallway, a loud banging noise emanated from the other side. Giselle jumped away, leaving room for someone to bypass her if they were to come through the door. After a moment, no more loud noises occurred, and Giselle got hold of herself and, though it was a risky move, cautiously opened the door. “Definitely a risk worth taking,” she thought, when she came upon a room totally dissimilar to those she’d encountered previously. The banging seemed to have come from the gate at one end of the room, which still groaned on its hinges, though it remained firmly shut. Of the person who’d caused the noise, there was no sign.

Now that she had a Mystery to solve, Giselle developed a sense of purpose. She crept across the room as quietly as she could, and put on her most friendly and innocent expression. “I was just curious about that sound I heard,” she practiced saying in her head. “Do you know where that gate goes, anyway?”

She opened the door at the other end of the room, slowly but not silently, not wanting to startle whoever might be on the other side but also not wanting to seem as if she was trying to sneak by.

Hearing a sound behind him, Darren’s muscles tensed. He still hadn’t finished hidden the large kitchen knife underneath his cloak, which meant he had to turn quickly if he wanted to avoid being found stealing knives.

Turning around as fast as he could and with one hand behind his back he looked at the girl that appeared at the door, trying to stay as calm as possible, even though he could feel the drops of cold sweat starting to appear on his forehead.

“Who… are you?” he asked, unable to think of something better to say.

“My name’s Giselle,” she replied, standing in the open doorway. The man before her was obviously hiding something, so an easy escape route was important. “I just wanted to know if you knew anything about that loud noise. Did you hear it?”

“Uh…” Darren trailed off, deeply wishing that the windows on the wall were slightly bigger so that he could jump away. “...the gate doesn’t open. I… sort of kicked it a while back.” he answered, his words coated with nervousness.

Giselle giggled at that revelation.

“By the way, I’m Darren. Do you… have any idea of what is this place?”

“The Floating Castle, as far as I’m aware,” said Giselle. “It’s different than I was expecting, but it’s where I was going, and now… I’m here,” she ended with a shrug.

“A Floating Castle?” he wondered aloud. “I don’t remember going into a place like that… last thing I remember I was on a ship, crossing a sea… Maybe, I jumped into the sea? I’m not entirely sure about how I turned up in this place…”. As he continued the conversation he tried to slowly back away, but he found himself hitting a nearby counter, almost dropping the knife on his hand.

“A… Anyway, have you seen anybody else here? Or a way out?”

Giselle shook her head. “No on both counts. I heard some shouts and screams earlier, but I wasn’t close enough to see who was making them.” She finally let herself venture further into the room, confident at this point that Darren, whoever he was, wouldn’t spontaneously attack her. A part of the room resembled a pantry, and without her bow, food was a valuable resource. “Have you looked in these cupboards at all?”

“Uh… not in the cupboards… but there are utensils on the drawers on the over there.” He pointed to drawers from which he had taken the knives. Though he was still nervous, he thought that he could trust Giselle. “Hey… when you arrived here… did you lose something you had before?”

Halfway to opening a cupboard, Giselle looked back at Darren. “You too?”

“Yeah… just minor stuff though. You know, it’s not a good idea going around the world defenseless, right?” for a moment, he contemplated telling her about the book, but he desisted. If the book really was gone, then he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. “I also found some people around while I looked around the place and they all looked confused. Something seems off, don’t you think?”

“Sure,” Giselle said with a shrug, “But then, maybe waking up in a magical Floating Castle is supposed to feel off.” Opening the cupboard, she found shelves filled with bread and cheese. “Oh, thank god. At least whatever brought us here isn’t forcing us to starve.” She grabbed a small loaf and a chunk of cheese and set them on a counter to go about combining them. Pointing at the drawers Darren had indicated earlier, she asked, “Knives?”

“Yeah…” he answered, a guilty half smile showing on his face as he lifted the hidden kitchen knife. “Can’t really go around defenseless, right? Something stills feels off about all this. Oh, and there are forks and spoons on the ones underneath it, just in case.”

“Thanks,” said Giselle, opening a drawer and pulling out a serrated knife to cut the bread. “Never really used one of these for defense before…” Even as she said that, though, she realized that hefting the knife as if it were a weapon, just for a moment, felt pretty natural. Maybe she’d have to take it when she was done eating, just until she could find another bow.

Just as Darren was about to hide the kitchen knife, from the corner of his eye he saw the door open once again. His hand made its way behind its back one more time just before another girl entered into the room. “H...Hi, can I help you?”

The girl paused, looking as if she were about to bolt out of the room. She made her hand relax on the handle before answering. “Yeah. Um. Yes. Do you work here?”

“No… I guess not…” he stuttered “...I mean, I don’t remember much, and I just stumbled upon this room… so… probably not?”

Giselle held up her bread-and-cheese concoction. “I don’t think anyone’s paying me, but I can make you a sandwich if you like.”

A smile flitted across the girl’s face. Letting go of the door, she moved a little way into the room. “That’d be nice,” she said, talking mostly to Giselle. “And, um, you sound… Where are you from?” She was trying to make her voice sound casual.

Mirae edged ever so slightly away from him. “Can I have the sandwich?”

“Go ahead,” said Giselle with a smile.

“Thanks.” She bit into it, smiling in return. “Uh,” she said, swallowing, “could you point me the way out of here? I’m a bit… disoriented.”

“Perhaps you could try something with the metal gate just outside this room? I was a while on the corridors with all the rooms but I didn’t see any exit there. Maybe the gate leads out?” Darren answered. “It seems to be tightly shut, though.”

“I could try, I guess. Anything else in here?” Mirae gestured around the room with the bread.

“...Well there are knives in those drawers…” Darren whispered as he returned to minding his own business.

Mirae nodded, walking over to investigate the drawer. She glanced sideways at Darren as she returned, tucking a knife away in her cloak. “Thanks again for the food.” She disappeared through the door.

As she left, Giselle returned to slicing bread. “You want one?” She asked Darren, gesturing at the sandwich that was still on the counter.

“I’m not particularly hungry at the moment… I’m probably too nervous to eat, but thanks anyway.”

“Okay,” said Giselle, but she continued cutting slices off the bread loaf. “You said you saw other confused-looking people, right?’

“Yeah, about three of them. They all went deeper into the dorm area, so I don’t know if they found an exit or if they returned to their rooms. Maybe they’ll pass by here later, like Mirae.” he finished wrapping the large knife he had taken to his belt. “Are you looking for somebody?”

“The one person I’d be looking for definitely isn’t here,” said Giselle with a sardonic laugh. “I’m just covering my bases. I feel… honestly, I feel naked without my bow. And surrounded by strangers. Especially disoriented strangers, because even if most people are cautious, someone might lash out if they get scared, right? So I figure… sandwiches.”

Darren sighed. He wasn’t exactly a good cook, but then again, it’s not like anybody could mess up making a sandwich. “Makes sense.” He replied and quickly moved towards the cupboards to help her out. “Hey, if somebody took our stuff, it should be around here, right?”

“I hope so. It seems logical, but then… I’d rather not make assumptions about something as weird as what’s been going on.”

“Well, even though I don’t know what to do, I’ll try to look for the things I lost when we’re done here.” he said as he used a knife to cut the bread into loaves of slightly the same size. “I can look for your bow if you want.”

Giselle smiled. “I’d appreciate it. It’s an old thing, all nicked and scuffed, but it has sentimental value. I’d gladly use another one, but I do hope I’ll be able to get the old one back. And you… I assume you’d like your original weapons back, too?”

“Most of them were disposable. There was one I’d rather keep, however. A knife with a silver handle, but other than that I’m looking for something else… of course, now that I think about it, perhaps it’s best if it doesn’t appear at all” he forced a smile, wondering if that was the best course of action. “I’ll look for you bow, then.”

“And I’ll keep an eye out for silver-handled knives.” Giselle laughed, placing wedges of cheese between bread slices. “See? Sandwiches do make friends.”

“Will people even find these sandwiches?”

“Mirae did.”

Darren laughed. “Yeah, but there were no sandwiches when that happened.”

“Ah,” said Giselle, “But if three people can find this room, it’s likely others will also come across it. And when they do show up…” she gestured to the rapidly filling counter space… “There will be sandwiches.”

“All right, I get it. So, are you staying here until people come for the sandwiches?” he asked, glancing towards the windows. He wondered if there even was a way to go outside, but immediately convinced himself there had to be one.

“I guess it depends on how long I’d have to wait,” Giselle admitted. “I think I’d probably be better off exploring some more before it gets to be too late in the day.” She, too, looked toward the windows, trying to gauge the sun’s position in the sky.

“Well, there’s only one way out of this kitchen, so if you’re not staying, maybe we could look for an exit?”

Giselle nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after.

Anji sprinted down the hall, skidding into a wall as she cut the turn too wide. Wincing, she spied the window. “There.” A quick leap later, she tapped the glass, frustrated.

“What, exactly, is there?” asked a quiet, mildly amused voice.

“A window, you dummy.” Anji ripped a length of the bottom of her shirt off, baring a sliver of her midriff. Wrapping it around her knuckles, she punched the glass, wincing.

“Whoa!” Kevin pulled her away from the window, his hands gentle but firm around her waist. “I thought you said you were looking for your sister, Torvantine, not trying to get yourself killed.”

Anji twisted, snarling. “Let. Me. Go.”

“I’m sorry.” He dropped his hands swiftly, stepping around to stand between her and the window, his eyes on hers. “Listen to me,” Kevin said quietly. “There are smarter ways of doing what you’re trying to do.”

He nodded, taking a few steps back. “Don’t let me crack my head open.” Bracing his arms and back against the wall behind him, Kevin kicked up, thrusting his shod foot at the glass. Anji stepped back, eyeing him from the hallway. The glass shattered easily after two kicks, and Anji scrambled around him, grinning. “Thanks, sir!”

Kevin laughed. “Wait! It’s jagged.” He took off one shoe, swatting with it at the remaining pieces of glass in the frame. “And it’s Kevin.”

“Anji.” The girl offered a hand, waiting for Kevin to extend his before slipping her foot up and out of the building.

“Wait!” Kevin started to climb after her, then noticed his shoe still in his hand. He put it back on, then jumped, forcing himself through the window. “Anji?”

“Shush, we dunno what’s out here.”

“All right.” He drew up behind her, standing half a step back in Anji’s shadow. Kevin lowered his voice to a murmur as he added, “I’ll follow your lead, then, Captain.”

She grinned at him, raising an eyebrow. “What you goin’ on about?”

Kevin gave a mock salute. “I’m very good at taking orders. Been in the army and everything.”

“Well, I ‘aven’t. Stop.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll stand at ease.” He grinned.

There was a pause, and Anji shook her head, quietly turning away at walking towards the nearest building.

He shrugged one shoulder up and down and offered her a crooked smile. “I need something to do. Please let me help?”

“Fine, but stick near me, she’s not gonna follow you ‘less ‘m there.”

“Understood.” Kevin followed her across the courtyard, eyes roving to and fro in search for anyone else. He stiffened when he saw a figure approaching from the other corner, then abruptly stopped walking, his smile widening in recognition. “John! Don’t tell me you followed me to this hole?”

The man’s keys clattered to the floor, an easy smile on his face. “That’s Battlemaster to you. And the hole seems pretty posh to me.”

Kevin crossed the distance between them in a few loping strides, and clapped an arm against John’s back. “John, you dog, you know what the story is here, do you? That’s more than anyone else I’ve met can say.”

John cut his eyes at the girl. “Who’s the runt? Seems a bit small to be at a battleschool.”

“Here’s a deal. I’ll introduce you to my pretty friend as soon as you explain all this about a battleschool.” Kevin grinned widely, beckoning to Anji to join him.

Anji waved, scowling at the battlemaster. “‘m no’ a runt, you bastard.”

John snorted, restraining a grin. “Got dropped here. Someone told me that I was to teach weaponry. Then you show up.”

Kevin smirked. “Weaponry, huh? Guess nobody told them they were dealing with a master streetfighter.” Nodding to Anji and seeming to slip back into a more formal manner, he added, “John, this is my new friend Anji Torvantine. Anji, I present John Carter, my oldest friend and boldest guardsman.”

“This is a competition. Best fighters advance. The rest are sent back.”

“Sent where? Home?”

“I don’t know.”

Kevin tapped his fingers idly against his leg. “What are management like? You said someone’s been telling you what’s what.”

“Like you, mostly.” John examined a cut on his hand, frowning. “Demanding.”

Kevin frowned. “I didn’t know I was so demanding.”

John raised an eyebrow. “You just interrogated me, your highness.”

“I KNEW it!” A voice called, before Anji tumbled from the eaves of the barracks. Kevin directed a pointed glare at John, who smiled innocently.

“Yer royalty an’ I know it!” Anji called, grinning.

“Okay,” the prince said blandly, before turning back to his friend. “I’m lost and confused and I’m asking my knowledgeable friend for information. I’d hardly call that interrogation, John. You know you’d know it if I were interrogating you.”

“Either way, I must be going now, your highness.” John waved, winking at the girl. “He keeps his money pouch in his left pocket.”

The muscles on the blond man’s face twitched. “That’s Kevin to you, Battlemaster.” To Anji he muttered, “He’s lying.”

John grinned widely. “Try the front pockets. If you reach, who knows, you might find his knife.” Without another word, he walked away, ducking into a smithy.

“Ahhh… quah… baaah….” Anji sounded out, tracing her finger across the handle of a knife. “Weird. How come the squiggles make sense?”

“It has my name on it,” Kevin said in a reasonable voice. “If you show me where you found it, I’m sure we can pick out some lovely knives for you that don’t already belong to anyone.”

Anji sighed. “You’re no fun.”

“I can be fun!” he said defensively. “I just want my things!”

“Fine, but ‘m keeping the knife for now.”

“No.”

“Yes.” Anji put the knife in her pocket, sprinting away.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake…” Kevin ran after her. “At least show me where you found it, Miss Torvantine; I’m not asking a great deal…”

Anji skidded into the smithy, nearly knocking over a pot of heated metal. Scrambling, she slid into the darkened room beyond.

Kevin blinked a few times, taking slow and measured breaths as his eyesight adjusted. “Thank you, Anji,” he murmured.

“You’re welcome!” A chipper voice said, right next to him.

He jumped, then went to the wall, running his hands along the weapons hanging there. Impressed, he hefted a few before replacing them on their hooks. Kevin smirked. “And of all this, you just had to take my knife?”

“It had squiggles on it.”

“My knife does not have squiggles on it!”

“Yes it does! Ah, quah, bah. See? I must have been shot in the head harder than I thought. The squiggles make sense!” There was silence for a moment, and bits of equipment flew from the shelves.

Kevin spun, reaching for a handy sword. “What do you see?” he asked in a low voice.

“Squiggles, silly.” Anji kept pawing through the armory, pocketing what she could and discarding the rest. “Wait!”

“What?”

“I must be magic.”

“What.” Kevin sighed. “Why must you be magic?”

“Because I can read the squiggles.”

“You are magic because you can read?”

“I couldn’t when… Uh. Before waking up, actually.”

Kevin bit back his reply, and turned to face her, his eyes gentle. “You learned recently, I guess.”

Anji examined her arms. “I don’t remember you…” She twisted around in a circle, and focused on her stomach. “Woah I definitely would have remembered you.” She poked a scar with a finger.

Kevin put the sword down and knelt beside her, concerned. “Are you all right? Maybe you were injured--” He put out his hands to hold her steady, and broke off at the sight of something. “Nice ring,” Kevin said, trying to sound casual.

“Oh, yeah.” Anji tugged at it, unable to pry it off. “Didn’t have that before, either. This is weird.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Same thing happened to me.” He turned his left hand over to show her a matching ring.

Anji’s eyes narrowed. “You have funny new scars too?”

Kevin glanced at his arms before shrugging. “Probably. I stopped keeping track of scars sometime during my army service.”

“Prince and soldier, eh?”

“Everyone in Orono’s a soldier at some point.” He paused. “I wasn’t lying to you.”

“Never said you were.” Anji replied blandly, before pulling up his shirt and examining the skin underneath. “Those bruises look new.”

He sighed. “Keep the knife, then, until you get something better. And look around for anything familiar. Look, I’ll help you.”

They searched the room for several minutes, clearing all but the darkest corner. Anji squeezed behind a shelf, and returned with a sword in a silver scabbard, trimmed with blue gold. “I like this one.”

“That’s specialty work,” Kevin said, after a quick glance at the sword. “Don’t take it; it probably belongs to someo--”

Anji touched the hilt, a low thrum permeating the room. She let the sword drop, and the noise stopped. “What in the bloody Crow’s feathers is that?!”

“I think I know,” Kevin said quietly.

“Know what?!” Anji gasped. “There’s a deamon in the sword!”

Kevin grinned and shook his head, gesturing for her to pick it up again. “You’re magic.”

Gingerly, Anji knelt, tapping the sword and leaping back when it hummed in response. “Magic?”

Sobering, he asked, “Does it hurt?”

“No, feels good.”

Kevin shrugged. “I’ve never seen a magic sword, but I’ve heard of them. I’d wager this one’s saying that it likes you.”

“Oh.” Anji picked up the sword, tying it around her shoulders. “Well, I like it too.”

Mirae gave the gate a final, frustrated shake before leaving it. Wherever she was, it was full of doors that led nowhere and infernal locked gates. She started retracing her steps along the corridor, hoping to find something useful.

A muttering and the sound of booted feet reached Mirae’s ears as someone approached. “No sight of the bloody armory outside, no sign of a damn smoke house and nothing to navigate by in the forest. There must be something useful in this thrice damned place.”

She relaxed from where she had jumped toward the wall. Unfamiliar accents might mean she knew nothing about the others, but they also meant she was somewhere far away. Mirae edged toward the nearest turn and peered around it.

Marcus gave the mage a flat stare. “You finally willing to come out and meet me now? I could see your aura through that wall.”

“I… Who are you?” Mirae stepped into the other hallway.

“My name is Marcus. Why does your aura look like it has lightning shooting through it?”

“What do you mean, aura?” She looked around, expecting to see something floating around her.

He shrugged. “Not my term, I stole it from someone else I met in here. Before that I was just calling them blobs. I think I’m seeing magic energy, though I don’t remember how I got the ability. Best guess is that it’s tied to the eye somehow.” The warrior explained, gesturing to the right side of his face.

“Right…” Mirae said, sweeping over the spot that glinted where his eye should have been. “You were talking about outside?” she asked, adopting the tone she used for those she found staggering along the side of the street after dark.

Marcus glared at her. “Don’t take that tone with me. I’m not crazy. I find myself wishing I was at this point, but I’m not. But yes, I have yet to find anything useful here. That includes anything outside.”

Mirae jerked her head noncommittally. “More than I’ve found. I keep running into dead ends.”

The big man sighed and gestured for her to follow. “Well prepare for more disappointment...What did you say your name was?”

“Mirae. And at least it’ll be better than being stuck in here.”

“That’s a nice thought. You should hold onto it.” Without further preamble Marcus set off down the corridor, leading the mage to an open door to the outside.

Mirae shaded her eyes with a hand, looking across the field. A large part of her wanted to break for the trees, for any place that she could travel through. “So why are you still here?” she asked abruptly.

“Where am I supposed to go?” He shot back. “Out into the forest? With no food? I mean I know quite a bit of herbology but I’m also fairly sure I have amnesia, so I can’t exactly rely on memory at the moment.”

“That would explain the crazy bit,” she said under her breath. “So you’d rather stay here? Not even staying by the edge of the trees to make it harder for… whoever made this place?”

Marcus sighed and began shaking his head. “You haven’t even thought this plan of your’s all the way through. Whoever brought me here knows the terrain better than I do. I’m not here by choice or they would not have taken my weapons. I have a splitting headache because half my vision is full of bright, distracting lights. Granted that last bit is exclusive to me but quite frankly neither of us is in a good position to make a run for it without some supplies.”

“I found a kitchen not long ago, and there are probably others. Food, weapons. And either in the forest or here, we know less than them. So I’d rather take my chances somewhere I might gain some of that advantage back,” Mirae snapped at him.

“What advantage? You still have no weapons, no supplies, no information and your size puts you at a serious disadvantage against almost any opponent. Gods, People tell me I’m in a rush to get myself killed and I have nothing on you, ya hotheaded little gnome!” Marcus returned with equal vitriol.

Mirae pulled the knife out of her cloak, just enough to make it visible. “There’s one. I can get another, but I’m leaving after.”

“Then you’re an idiot,” He snapped. “You plan on running off with nothing but two knives to aide you. One of them is a knife I left in the kitchen because it was unsuitable to fight with!”

“I meant I’d take food with me,” she said flatly. “A better knife wouldn’t hurt, but I can work with this one. I’m not planning on fighting with it.”

“That’s the first thing you said that’s made any amount of sense. No one could win a fight with that piece of junk.”

“It’s fine.” She slid it back into the holder, turning to reenter the barracks.

“Fine, storm off if you want,” Marcus called after her. “But we both know I’m right. Still I suppose if you’re bent on throwing yourself to the wolves, you’ll make a good distraction for when I make my future escape.”

Mirae rolled her eyes as she kept walking. If the amnesiac weapons expert wanted to wait around, that was fine by her. Her thoughts returned to the kitchens. That first had been tucked away at the end of a row of bedrooms, any others might be as well. It was somewhere to start, at least.

Marcus turned away from the retreating form of the woman. He growled and kicked a nearby post. “I do not remember hating people this much!” He looked up to the sky only to notice a sign with an anvil and an arrow pointing north. The warrior blinked in shock. “How in seven hells did I not see that before?” The soldier walked back over to the doors and yelled down the hall. “Oi! Gnome! If you insist on getting yourself killed do you at least want your weapons so you stand a fighting chance?”

She came back with an annoyed look on her face. “What? Your magic eye find something else?”

He gestured to the sign. “No, apparently we both have terrible awareness when arguing.”

“...Oh.” Mirae glanced at him, then looked back at the sign, abashed. “Thanks for calling me back.”

“Yeah, well I must be in a generous mood or something.” He replied looking off to one side. “I usually just leave idiots to their fate.”

Mirae shook her head. “Well, are we getting our weapons back or not?” she asked, trying the handle.

“Back up for one second?”

She stepped out of the way.

Marcus slammed the cleaver into the gap between the door and the frame. He then leveraged a kick against the blunt side of the tool. The door remained shut. The warrior glared and threw his shoulder into the door.

The door remained in its frame.

“Oh for the love of-”

Mirae smirked, but hid her smile as she walked in front of him. “Let me try?”

“Fine.”

She covered the doorknob with her hand, making sure Marcus was behind her, and bent her head over it. Wetting her lips, she sent a pulse of lightning through the wood around the lock.

“Ow!” Mirae snatched her hand back from the suddenly hot and slightly misshapen handle. Black spots had appeared in the wood. “Usually takes me a few tries to do that,” she muttered, frowning.

“Few tries or not why didn’t you stop to mention you could use magic before I wasted our time trying to break down the door?”

She shrugged uncomfortably. “You might’ve succeeded?”

He shot her a flat look. “Is that really the explanation you’re going with?”

“For all I knew, it might have broken to pieces when you crashed into it.”

Marcus shook his head. “Whatever,” He pushed the door open, went inside and began looking for his weapons.

Mirae followed him in, lifting a knife from a nearby drawer. She opened cupboards one after another, looking through their contents.

Spear, spear, spear… Marcus saw no trace of his weapon but then a pair of battle knives on a baldric caught his eye. The warrior took the weapons and eyed the mace, tooth and throwing knife on the same sling. “Well these two are mine, but what the hell are you three doing here?”

“The better question is, can you use them?” Mirae called over to him. She weighed a crossbow in her hands, not bothering to look over at her companion.

“Well I used clubs when I was younger but…” Marcus removed the mace from its holder only to find it easy to hold and carry and far lighter than it should have been given how long it had been since he used a weapon like it. “Yeah, definitely got some amnesia here, I’ve been using this for a while now but I don’t remember getting it.”

He reslung the mace and strapped on the baldric. “The tooth is probably a trophy I took from something I killed. Real mystery is this,” The warrior held up the throwing knife. “I don’t use these things, ever, at all.”

Mirae rested the front of the crossbow on the ground and cocked it. Wincing slightly at the sound, she disarmed it again. “Maybe you picked it up somewhere?” she considered, hanging the weapon back on its peg. “Something you got in a fight.”

Marcus shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Maybe. So what weapons did you have before you got here? If my stuff is here chances are your’s is too.”

“I had a few knives. Nothing special, and nothing I could pick out of a pile of others.”

“Well, consider this a restart to your collection,” He said, tossing her the knife underhanded.

She clapped her hands around the hilt. “Any arrows over by you?” She slipped the knife into her cloak, taking a moment before she found a sheath the right size.

“Well yeah, but if you’re going to use that crossbow you need bolts. Arrows break if you try to fire them from that.”

“There’s a shortbow next to it. I’m better with the crossbow, but it’s not really built for traveling through the unknown. Too loud, too long to reload.” She crossed the room as she spoke.

“But on the other hand with the short bow you’ll be lucky to pierce leather armor. And you can forget about any metal armor,” Marcus pointed out as her turned to face the mage.

“I told you I’m not planning to fight,” she said, picking up a quiver. “You really think I could hold off a soldier or a fighter? You’re the one who knows about battles. You tell me.”

“I think a crossbow will pierce plate armor like a thin plank of wood. And I’m not a mage but if you could do what you did to the door to a person? I’d say you’d have a decent chance.”

Mirae held the quiver a moment more, sliding her fingers over the leather. Then she set it down. “Crossbow it is.”

“See? I can actually be helpful if you give me half a chance.” Marcus gloated to her.

She smiled in spite of herself. “Yes, all right. But I think I’ll get on with getting myself killed now.”

The warrior patted her on the shoulder. “Why don’t you survive instead, and we can swap stories of our daring escapes later.”

“I’m sure that sounds wonderful, but let’s save storytelling for after we get out.”

“Does ‘later’ mean something other than ‘a time after now’ where you come from?”

“Sometimes.”

“I’m sure,” He replied sarcastically.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Mirae said, smiling as she picked the crossbow up again.

“Right well...stay safe, gnome.” He replied, feeling oddly worried.

“Same to you,” she said absently. Pausing at the door to scan the yard, she stepped around the side of the armory and was gone.

Quest Title: The Sharp End is HereQuest Description: Well, there’s finally been some information forthcoming about this… Battle School?... you’re in! And one of you has been assigned today to teaching the other one the basics of how to use a sword. Because swords are a thing people use in Battle School.Quest Goal: Try to have a swordfighting lesson.Quest Takers: Likovya (RussetDivinity) and Giselle (narrativedilettante)GM Notes: If you want any teachers to show up, don’t hesitate to let either of us know and we’ll trot one of them out! But you totally don’t need teachers; who needs teachers when we can have peer tutors?

Quest Title: Ready, Aim…Quest Description: Well, there’s finally been some information forthcoming about this… Battle School?... you’re in! And one of you has been assigned today to teaching the other one the basics of how to use a bow. Because bows are a thing people use in Battle School.Quest Goal: Try to have an archery lesson.Quest Takers: Jenny (JackAlsworth) and Fern (Krika)GM Notes: If you want any teachers to show up, don’t hesitate to let either of us know and we’ll trot one of them out! But you totally don’t need teachers; who needs teachers when we can have peer tutors? Also player discretion as to what type of bow is being used.

Quest deadline on all quests is Friday, September 26th at 11:59 p.m. EST.

It didn’t take long for Likovya to get bored with the forest. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as the swamps had been, or at least it wasn’t as dangerous, and they were basically the same thing. She spent a day among the trees before deciding to be done and heading back to the rest of the training grounds.

There had been something strange about the forest. She hadn’t expected it to be like any forest she was used to, at least not in the sense that it would be filled with familiar plants and animals, but she had expected some things to be the same. She had expected to find animal trails, and signs of hunting -- whether by humans or predators -- and honeybees. Instead, it was just a forest, and that sent chills down her spine. It was the lack of bees more than anything else that disturbed her. No matter where she went, there were always bees, or some other insect flying around the flowers, but here there was nothing, and that frightened her.

Besides, that made it unlikely that there would be much food, so she had to head back to the mess hall. It had been a while since she had last eaten; the last thing she remembered was a bit of fish she had caught and tried to cook in the swamp. Raw fish, it turned out, was made much more palatable by hunger than she would have thought. Even the tiny, mud-dwelling swamp fish tasted delicious.

There were some signs of life when she made it back to the school, and rather than go up to various people and see what was happening -- she was armed with only a knife, after all -- she skirted around the buildings until she found one that looked empty. She would wait for a while, she decided, and come up with some kind of plan. It was just like when she had escaped that mad king, only rather more unpredictable.

It didn’t take long for her to come up with something that might work. It was simple, but that gave her a bit of leeway if something unexpected happened. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out and nearly ran into a slender, brown-haired woman. Likovya stepped back quickly and set a hand on the hilt of her knife. “Who are you?” she asked.

The other woman held up her hands in a pacifying gesture. “My name’s Giselle. I’m… I guess I’m one of the students, here.”

“How did you get here? Do you remember?”

Giselle shook her head. “No more than anyone else seems to. I remember deciding to come to the Floating Castle, but I don’t actually remember coming here. What about you? Do you remember anything?”

She sounded honest enough, and Likovya eased her hand off her knife. “I remember being in a swamp. Something magic must have happened, and I blacked out. Next thing I know, I’m here, in this place that doesn’t even have a proper forest.” She glanced around. No one else was around them, at least not close enough to be unnerving. “My name’s Likovya, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Likovya,” Giselle said with a smile. She put a hand on a makeshift bag hanging off her shoulder. “I was going to find somewhere quiet to eat lunch. There’s an extra sandwich, if you want to join me.”

Quiet sounded good, and a sandwich sounded even better. “Sure,” Likovya said. “Just… keep an eye out. There are some really strange people around here.”

“Oh, most of them aren’t so bad once you get to know them. But sure, we’ll be careful.” They walked a short ways, finding a quiet spot with a view of the forest, out of sight of any windows. Giselle took two sandwiches out of the bag and handed one to Likovya.

The sandwich was made from good bread and some kind of cheese that Likovya wasn’t familiar with. If she had recently left the circus, it would have been lean fare, but it was heartier than swamp fish, and she devoured it. “Thanks,” she said once she’d swallowed the last bite. “I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“There’s more in the mess hall, but you’d probably have to face some of those strange people on the way to get it.”

“I’ve already been to the mess hall,” Likovya said. “It was the best place to find a knife. Unless…” She frowned and looked over at the buildings. “Do you suppose there’s some kind of armory around here?”

Giselle shrugged. “I think so. I haven’t found it, but people have mentioned getting some real weapons out of one of these buildings.”

Real weapons. The thought of having a proper knife in her hands made Likovya’s fingers itch, and even if it wasn’t one of the ones from the circus, perhaps it was for the best. Those ones had too many memories. “Do you know how to fight with anything?” she asked.

“I’m good with a bow. Someone… uh, recommended that I train with a sword, but I’m not sure how practical swordsmanship would be for someone like me.”

“I use knives,” Likovya said, tapping the hilt of her stolen knife again. “I’m best with throwing, so I probably ought to take a look.” She got to her feet. “Any idea which building it might be? They all look the same from over here.”

“It’s not one I’ve been in, so I can narrow it down slightly,” said Giselle. “Maybe we should start far afield and work our way back in the direction of the barracks.”

“That sounds like as good a plan as any. I just hope there aren’t any guards around. I’m not sure how many I can fight off with just one knife.” Two, maybe, but she would take some wounds.

“I’d rather avoid fighting if possible. Without my bow, I’m mostly a lost cause.”

---

After discovering a building that looked like a giant lecture hall and another that must have been some kind of bathhouse, Likovya and Giselle discovered the armory. It wasn’t guarded, and although the door was locked, Likovya found a window that came unlatched fairly easily and could be climbed through. Once they were both in, Likovya closed the window and looked around.

The armory was huge, or at least larger than she had expected. She had thought it would be little more than a glorified closet with some spears and swords, maybe with a bow and some scattered knives. Instead, it was filled with shelves, all arranged with different types of weapons, some of which Likovya had never seen before.

She definitely had to find out more about this place.

“I’m going to find some knives,” she said. “Should we meet back here once you have your bow?”

“Let’s do that,” said Giselle, running her hands along rows of hilts. “I’ll find a bow, and maybe I’ll pick up a sword to train with while I’m at it.”

Likovya walked along the row of swords, looking at them carefully. Most seemed too heavy, but there were a few that caught her eye. “Who would you train with? I’ve never used a sword in my life.”

“I figure I can find someone around here who’s used them. Besides, swords are just like giant knives, right? If you can use one, you should be able to use the other.”

“I think they work differently,” she said. “There’s a different weight, and you can’t throw a sword. Some of them are two-handed.” She took the hilt of a sword, not sure what she would do with it. She knew she couldn’t hold it the way she would a knife, but her hands found their grip easily, and she slipped into what felt like a fighting stance without even thinking about it. “I’d have to work like this to get the best attack.”

“Aha!” Said Giselle, pulling a bow off of a shelf. “It’s just like mine. Almost. There are these daggers clipped to it, but other than that it’s perfect.” Looking back to Likovya, she asked, “You were saying?”

“I’m not sure,” Likovya said, staring at the sword as she rose from the stance. “I’ve never held a sword before, but I just know how to. Is that part of what this place does?” She swung the sword around a few times, and her body almost automatically went into what felt like the right motions and steps, as though she had rediscovered some long-lost training inside her memory.

“It must be,” Giselle agreed. She slung the bow at her back and picked up a sword. “So you just stand like this and… swing it around, and you know what to do?” As Giselle moved the sword in front of her, she knocked over a shelf, sending blades scattering over the floor. “I must not have done it right. What did you do differently?”

“I had my arms more like this, I think,” Likovya said, shifting into the stance she’d started in. “I’m not sure how I knew to move, though. It was like my body understood how to use a sword.” More than that; the weapon felt right in her hand, almost as right as a knife did. “I suppose I could try to train you.”

Giselle mimicked Likovya’s stance, not well. “Like this?” She swung the sword again, this time narrowly avoiding any shelves. “Um, maybe we should move outside.”

“That might be best. I’m going to restock on knives, though.” Comfortable as she felt with the sword in her hand, she didn’t want to be without her favorite sort of weapon. “I’ll meet you by the window, and we can head back to that place where we ate.”

“All right.” While Likovya looked through the stock of knives, Giselle climbed back through the window, dropping the sword ahead of her.

Likovya grabbed two small knives, one for each boot, and then a few extras to fit around the rest of her body. Most were throwing knives, but she did find one that would be useful if she got caught in the middle of a fight. Once she had found places for all her new weapons, she headed out the window after Giselle, and they returned to the quiet spot from before.

“Right,” Likovya said once they were there. “First, I guess I ought to teach you how to hold the sword. Set your hands like this… here and here.” She demonstrated on her own, wishing she could remember how she knew this. If nothing else, it would make explaining everything much easier.

Giselle put her hands on the corresponding parts of her own sword. “Okay.”

“Then, um… well, what part of the blade you try to use depends on what you want to do. My sword’s pretty good for slashing, but it can stab, so I can use just about every part. The middle’s good for parrying.” Part of this was guesswork that just made sense, but some of it sounded right. “You know what parrying is, right?”

“That’s what you do when someone tries to hit you with their sword but you use your sword to stop them, yeah?”

“Yeah. The closer to the hilt, the stronger the blade, and the better for parrying.” It was as though someone had told her this before, and for less than a second, Likovya remembered standing on a mountain, her arms aching as a woman walked around her and corrected her stance, even in the smallest ways. Then it was gone, and she said, “There are different types of sword fighting, but in all of them, you want to have a strong base. Get your feet about as far apart as your shoulders, but don’t stand on them too heavily. You need to be able to move.”

“Um, all right,” said Giselle, moving her feet apart. She took an experimental step, swinging the sword in front of her, and nearly toppled over. “This thing is heavy.”

“Most swords are,” Likovya said. “They’re heavier than knives, at least.” She wasn’t entirely sure how she could hold hers so well, unless all the fights she’d gotten into recently had made her stronger. “I guess I’ll have to start with getting you strong enough to hold it.” There was a brief flash of a memory of aching arms, but it faded quickly. “You should practice just holding the sword for a while every day, a bit longer each time. We don’t have to do that right now, if you’d rather not.”

“Maybe not,” said Giselle. “My hands are starting to get sore already. It’s weird; I can hold a bow for hours, but a hunk of metal is a strain after a few minutes.”

“I think you have to hold a bow differently,” Likovya said. “I’m not sure, though.” For all she knew, she would suddenly be able to use a bow perfectly, despite only having held one once, before the archer’s last performance. “Can I see the bow you got?”

Giselle held the bow out to Likovya. “Just be careful with it.”

It didn’t take long for Likovya to realize that she wouldn’t have the same skill with a bow that she did with a sword. Her hand felt all wrong on the handle, and when she touched the string, no sudden memories came to her of loosing an arrow. She handed it back to Giselle. “I think you’ll end up being the archer out of the two of us.”

“If you can teach me how to wield a sword, maybe I can teach you how to wield a bow,” said Giselle, taking the weapon back. “We’d have to grab another from the armory, if you’re interested.”

Knives, a sword, and a bow… all she would need to be a walking arsenal would be to master wielding a spear. “That might get a little too cumbersome,” Likovya said. “Besides, knives don’t break as often as arrows do.”

“Okay. I can be enough archer for the two of us.” Giselle replaced the bow and made sure the sword was in its sheath. “I think that’s been enough training for one day, anyway. Why don’t we grab some dinner?”

“As long as I don’t have to run into too many people,” Likovya said, but she smiled this time. At least, she tried to. Finding one normal person was a relief, but for all she knew, everyone had eyes that would be able to see her secrets. “Do you think they have any more of that cheese?”

Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after.

Quest Title: Gated CommunityQuest Description: Someone-- perhaps one of the instructors (speak to one of the GMs if you want the instructor John to make a guest appearance) has pointed you in the direction of a gate on the edge of this compound. The gate is powerfully protected, but you have an instinctive urge to get it open.Quest Goal: Get past the protections and open the gate.Quest Takers: Likovya (RussetDivinity) and Fern (Krika)GM Notes:

The protections on the gate can take whatever form you want, so long as you get past them.

The gate (and the protections on it) do not need to be uniform between these two quests (see the Main Thread quest), even though they are the same gate-- due to Magic, one side of the gate is totally distinct from the other (and both sides need to be successful for the gate to fully open).

If you prefer, you may collaborate between the two quests on the opening-the-gate thing, but that is totally not compulsory. (If you collab, the posts should be made in the Main thread.)

When the gate is successfully opened, all memories return to those characters who were on Floor 25.

Likovya was just about done with this place, whatever it was. If this was part of the castle -- which she had to admit was likely, given all the strange things she’d heard about the castle and all the strange things she’d seen in this place -- then she was ready to leave the castle and get back to her walk around the world. She wasn’t sure where she would go next or what she would do. She had been finding herself, she supposed, or maybe trying to lose all her shadows. It was hard to tell.

Whatever would happen, though, she didn’t care. She just wanted to be gone. As soon as she could, she packed up some food from the kitchen, including a bit of cheese which she ate on the way out, and went on the hunt for a way to escape. She was armed with the knives she’d found and the sword that was, strangely, useful to her, even though she couldn’t remember using a sword once in her life. Maybe that was part of the magic of this place: it gave her some useful skill. Whether she lost it when she left was another matter, but even if she did, she could always sell the sword. From what she could tell, it was made of a good metal, and it looked fine as well. There had to be someone in the world willing to take it.

The place was larger than she had expected, and apparently she was more skilled at losing herself than finding places, for it took her several hours to even find something that looked like a gate. By that time, she was annoyed from ducking out of sight of different people and trying to cling to what little shadows there were in the middle of the day, and her annoyance only grew when she saw the thing standing in place of the gate.

It was like a man, but not a man, and if such a thing existed outside of the castle, she had never seen one. But then, she rarely stayed very long in whatever countries she had passed through, so it was entirely possible she had missed hearing stories about a man-shaped giant that looked to be made out of earth. It stood in a gap in the wall, staring unblinkingly ahead, and she couldn’t tell whether it was a statue or somehow alive. If it was alive, it had to be through magic, and Likovya decided right then that she hated it. If her knives could do anything to hurt it, she would destroy it.

With a savage cry, she drew a knife in each hand and charged.

-----

Fern was following a wall. It was a process that was as exciting as it sounded, which is to say that it was about as boring as most things could be. When he and Lori had found what appeared to be the wall of this place, she had shooed him off in one direction, saying something about meeting on the other side. Which meant that he was walking widdershins around the compound (or that was the direction he judged himself to be walking).

The walls themselves were pretty interesting, at least by wall standards. They were tall - at least a few dozen yards high, and curved slightly inward. Plus, he was pretty sure that there was some kind of magic moving through them. He did not have any of the tools or supplies to do any sort of reliable check, but he thought he could feel something if he pressed himself against it. Another mystery of this place, and hopefully one that he would be able to figure out in time. Or at least learn about, if whoever was responsible for the walls was still around.

Hang on.

He stopped walking for a moment, straining his ears. Yeah, it definitely sounded like there was something going on up ahead. Some sort of clashing thing? He wasn’t quite sure at this distance, but it was hopefully indicative of someone that he could talk to. And that wouldn’t do horrible things to his body for trespassing somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. So he hurried on ahead.

A few minutes later, he could definitely make out the sounds up ahead. Some sort of clashing noise, metal against rock maybe? He hurried up, and rounding a building attached to the wall, abruptly found the source of the noise. A young woman, bearing a knife in each hand, was attempting to fight what appeared to be a stone golem of some kind. Her blades weren’t able to do much against the creature; the best she could do was to avoid its counterattacks, and some of those came very close to striking her.

He frowned, not wanting to interrupt her for fear of disrupting her concentration, and yet wanting to make himself known to her. He glanced around, once more wishing that he actually had stuff on him, or had found some place to pick up any sort of usable supplies. Poking his head into the small building, he found a rack where a sword and spear were laying. After a moments hesitation, he grabbed the spear, and jogged back out. Now, to distract the golem without being squished.

Fortunately for him, it seemed to be focusing the entirety of its attention onto the young woman, either unaware of his presence, or ignoring it. He gripped the spear with both hands, stepping around to one side of the golem before taking a deep breath in.

“AAAAAAAAAAAA!” Taking a few steps forward he did his best to strike at the golem with the spear, swinging one end like a staff.

The woman sprinted to his side, moving as though she was trying to defend him. “What are you doing?” she shouted, dropping to one knee to avoid a swing of the golem’s hand. “Have you ever used one of those things before?”

“I have not used a spear before, but I do know the basics of staff fighting, and a spear is a bit liiiaaaaaAAA-” he backpedalled fast, barely avoiding the golem’s arm swinging around. “-bit like a staff, right?”

The woman swung one of her knives up, and the blade connected with the golem’s wrist but did no damage aside from making her stumble from the impact. “With a spear, you’re supposed to use the pointy end,” she said in a voice that sounded as though she was trying very hard to be patient. “Maybe you ought to stay out of the way. I can handle this.”

Fern backpedaled further, a bit glad to not be within arms reach of the golem anymore. “Are you certain? I do not think that you are doing any significant damage to it, unless you have some tool other than those knives?”

“I’ve got a sword,” the woman growled in between darts and attacks. “I don’t exactly have time to get it, though.” She dropped to a shoulder roll and popped up at once, as soon as she thought she was safe from an attack. “Do you have some better plan?”

Fern tilted his head, looking at the golem pensively. “It likely has a core of some sort, that animates it and keeps it from being something other than a stone statue. Should that be damaged or destroyed, the functionality of the golem should be degraded or removed altogether.”

The woman leapt backward just before the golem’s hand landed on the ground where she had been standing. “Right. So how do I reach the core? I can’t get past its feet.”

“Well, determining where the core is located in or on the body would be the first thing to do.” Fern skirted the edge of the battlefield, trying to get a good look at the back of the golem’s body. “Could you possibly try to get it to rotate some? I cannot see anything indicative of a core on the front, and I do not have a good angle to view the back at the moment.”

The woman shot him a glare but did as he asked, running to the side and shouting curses and insults at the golem. Whether it understood her words or not, the golem slowly turned to keep up with the woman, who darted against it again and again, striking at its legs and hands in a frenzy. “Don’t take too much time!” she yelled. “Even if these aren’t my knives, I don’t want them to dull them against this thing!”

Fern nodded in response, eyes flickering over the back of the golem. “Well, I have good news and bad news. I know where the core is, or at least the exterior element of it. However, it is located on the back of the head. Thoughts on how to get at it?”

The woman’s first response was something that Fern guessed was a curse, but then she said, “If I had some way of climbing it, I could reach it. I don’t suppose you’ve got any rope?” After a moment, she added, “It’s long and windy, and made up of different strands woven together. Sound familiar?”

He frowned, and carefully jogged around the field to poke his head back into the building, glancing quickly through what he could see. “I do not think so? I will see if there is any in here, but there might not be. What were you going to do with it?”

“Climb, obviously,” the woman yelled in response. “What do you think I would do with it?” She grunted, then called, “Have you got a better idea?”

“Several, but none of them viable due to the lack of any equipment I could use to carry them out…” he called out distractedly, opening up a barrel to check inside.

“What about an idea that can work?”

“...yours? I am heavily dependent on my tools to be useful in this kind of situation, and without them I am afraid any assistance that I can offer is limited to my rather unimpressive physique and physical skills..” he trailed off, flipping the lid off of a crate to reveal rope wound into a tight bundle. “I have found some rope!”

Grabbing the rope out of the crate, he hefted the bundle and dashed outside. The woman was still holding her own, though getting pushed back in the process. “What should I do with this rope?”

“Do you know anything that can pierce stone?” the woman called. “I need to get it attached to this thing’s head!”

Fern frowned, unraveling the rope to lay on the ground as he thought. “I do not think I have anything that could help with that….” He considered the rope for a moment, and then began working one end of it. However crazy and unsafe Pliny was, he had made sure that Fern knew his knots. “Would throwing a lasso over its head suffice?”

“It’ll have to! Can you throw, or do you need me to?”

Fern glanced around, eyes alighting on the building that was turning out to be much more handy that one might think. “I believe I will be able to do it? When I let you know, could you try and lure adjacent to the building attached to the wall? Being closer will make it easier for me to throw it.” Without waiting for an answer, he picked up the rope and ran back inside the building.

A couple moments later, he emerged again, pushing a barrel ahead of him. Maneuvering it to be against the wall next to the door, he climbed up on top of it, and stretched toward the top of the building, managing to just barely grab the top with his hands. A not-terrible toss put the rope mostly on top of the building, and he grabbed the top and started trying to pull himself up. To his surprise, it was a bit easier than expected, and he managed to wiggle himself up onto the roof after a minute of effort. Grabbing the end of the rope with the lasso, he ran to the edge. “Could you bring it over here now?”

Letting loose something that was almost a war cry, if a war cry could sound exasperated, the woman ran toward the building, pausing every now and then to turn and strike the golem with her knives. The golem followed her, but slowly, as though loath to leave its position. “How close do you need it?” the woman called.

He frowned, swinging the lasso a little in his hands. “A bit closer would be best, I believe?”

The woman sighed, but managed to coax the golem a few feet closer, then glanced over her shoulder. “Now?” She sounded slightly desperate, and the next swing nearly caught her arm.

Fern began winding up his throw, attempting to judge the distance properly. “It will do…” He threw the rope out, lasso opening wide in a perfect throw that was about 2 feet to the left of where it needed to be, sliding off of the golem’s shoulder, and fortunately not getting tangled in its arm. “Sorry, sorry!” He quickly pulled it back up, and winding up again, this time managed to land the rope on top of the stone figure’s head. “Done!”

Tossing the rest of the rope off the edge of the building, he knelt down on the wall. “What should I do now?”

“If you still have that spear, you could try to distract it,” the woman called. She tucked one of the knives into her belt, grabbed the other end of the rope, and began to pull herself up the golem. The rope swung and rocked, but with the rest of it coiled on the ground, it was stable enough for her to keep her feet pressed against its chest. “Use the pointy end!”

Fern frowned, and slid off the building with a thump, doing his best to dash around to where the spear had been dropped on the ground. He picked it up, and hefted it for a moment, before turning his attention to the large golem. A moment’s contemplation, and a large gulp, and he advanced towards it, pointy end of the spear pointed outward. “H-hey! Over here!” He jabbed at the back of the golem with the spear, jumping backwards almost immediately. “I am a target! Look at me!”

Partially distracted from the woman trying to climb its chest, the golem turned, swinging an arm at the now yelling man.

“Careful!” the woman called, and she scrambled onto the golem’s shoulder, still clutching the rope with one hand. With her other, she drew a knife and crept around to the back of the golem’s head before letting out another string of foreign curses. “And what do I do with this?” she asked, tracing the tip of her knife over a glowing vein, following whatever pattern the line made.

“Disrupt it? Stabbing it ought to do sometheeeeeeeeeing!” Fern called out, being temporarily interrupted by a close shave with a swinging stone limb, causing him to scramble back more. He still tried to hold his ground, waving the spear at the golem and shouting whatever popped into his head.

“Stabbing sounds useful,” the woman said, and she drove her knife into the nearest line. It slid in easily, far more easily than it should have considering it was stone, and the golem stopped with a jerk. The woman drew the knife out, and it started moving again, though it would suddenly stop and shudder, as though something were crawling under its skin. The woman struck again and again, and each time the shudders grew more violent, until the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground was her grasp on the rope. After several more strikes, the golem stopped, and the woman slid down the rope, landing hard on the ground. “Was that it?” she asked, gasping and looking at her reddened palm.

Fern slowly lowered the spear, cautiously approaching the golem. Seeing no reaction from the golem, he put the spear down and reached out to touch it with his hands. Closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead against its body, attempting to reach out. A minute of concentration later, he stepped back. “I believe so? It neither looks active, nor does it feel active, although my skill in determining such things is very limited and uncertain…” He frowned up at the head. “I would like to try and remove the core, but I do not think that is an especially viable course of action at this moment.”

“I could try,” the woman said, grabbing the rope and wincing as her left hand closed around it. “How would I go about getting out?”

“Well, it appears to be encased in the stone head - the part you were stabbing is mostly just an exterior element for easy access should something go wrong with the core or what have you. Actually removing it would necessitate breaking the stone, and that does not appear to be something that you can do, unless such an act is nonviable for you to perform in a combat scenario.”

The woman wrinkled her nose and released the rope. “I guess the core’s staying there, then.” She turned to the hole in the wall where the gate would otherwise be, took a step, and paused. “Were you planning on leaving this place?”

Fern shrugged. “I have no particular plans for the near future aside from attempting to figure out where my supplies were taken so that I can regain them, or possibly find new supplies. Or both, I suppose. As I am certain was very much demonstrated, my useful skills without them are...limited.”

“Well, I suppose this is good-bye, then.” The woman held out her non-ropeburned hand. “You did well. I’m sorry I was snappish.”

Fern took the hand, shaking it. “You were under a not-insignificant amount of stress in a situation that I am sure required quite a bit of focus. In light of such trying circumstances, such reactions are understandable.” He paused. “Oh, ah, yes. I am Fern.”

“My name’s Likovya, in case we ever meet again.” She gave him a quick smile and headed for where the golem had been standing. A simple gate stood there, and, after taking a deep breath, she pulled it open.

Fern turned to head back into the compound. Maybe Likovya was a member of Severed Stor-

He stopped. Severed Storm? How did he kno-Nova’s guild, Nova who wasn’t Nova she was Anji but was also Nova when she was a Lore Knight, and that was who he was a LoreKnightandLorinotheLoremasterinthetownonthefirstflooroftheCastlehewasstuckwithpeopleinthecastleLoriNovaMorionmenEliziya peoplethatheknewandcountedfriendsinthestuffhehaddoneratsmonstersthatturtlealienandflathowdidthathappenhowdidheforgetwh-

He came to kneeling on the ground, apparently having fallen there in the rush of memories. His memories, in fact, that he had forgotten. Why? This wasn’t the City, was it one of the floors? Perhaps a floor that took away your memory of the time in the castle? That would make sense, and it wasn’t like he’d have noticed any particular difference, though he was in a tad better shape than when he entered the castle. He shakily stood up, and glanced over his shoulder to where Likovya had been.

Likovya must have stepped away from the gate, for now she leaned with her back against the wall, gasping and holding her sword. “I remember,” she said. “I remember everything. How did… how could I have forgotten?” Shaking her head, she sheathed the sword and pushed herself away from the wall. “You’re all right?”

Fern nodded slowly. “I believe so, yes. The only change..well, I did not and do not notice anything different aside from the memories. Logically, since we are not in the city, we are in all probability on one of the floors of the Castle, though I do not remember anything that would indicate how we got here, or were transported here.”

“There’s enough about the Castle that doesn’t make sense that I don’t think I’ll question this. I’m just glad to be myself again.” Likovya set a hand on her knife and laughed. “I’d forgotten how sharp and angry I was when I came here. I hope I didn’t insult you too badly.”

Fern shook his head. “You did not. While I do not think I have undergone quite that much of a personality shift between entering the Castle and the present, there were several opinions that I held when I entered that I no longer do.”

“I suppose fighting a golem together makes us friends, then,” Likovya said. “Are you any good at finding things? I had a set of knives when I came to the Castle, and I’d rather have them back.”

Fern shook his head. “I would only be able to assist you in finding them if you had something connected to said knives, such as a piece of them. Though, I would think that they would be somewhere in this...Floor, I guess? I am still planning on trying to find the supplies I had on me if at all possible, so I could help you look for your daggers at the same time.”

Likovya grinned. “If you want my help finding your things, I wouldn’t mind giving it.” She strode up to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I couldn’t have taken that thing down without you, so I guess I owe you a little help, if nothing else.”

Fern blinked and flinched a tiny bit at Likovya’s clap. “Oh, um, that is most appreciated, yes. With the two of us it should go much faster.”

Darren opened another door. It was another empty room. He had spent a long while trying to find the place where his knives would be hidden, but he had had no luck until that point.

“What is this, the fortieth one?” he wondered aloud before silently closing the door again. Annoyed as he was, he couldn’t help but question why would they need so many rooms if nobody would be using them.

The layout of the barracks was confusing to him as well, though he blamed his poor sense of orientation more than whoever designed the building. He walked carefully around the halls, stopping at the faintest sound in the distance. He tried to remember if he had gotten any rest yet, not that it could be helped.

He turned another corner and saw a door that looked different than the others, bigger, but not as big as the one he had seen in the Dinner Hall. He tiptoed to the door before placing his back against the neighboring wall, holding his breath as he slowly opened the door from the side. The door screeched and there was no way somebody didn’t hear that. His heart skipped a beat.

”Screw this…” he thought, before suddenly opening the door all the way and getting inside the darkly lit room.

The room was bigger than it appeared to be. Inside of it were neatly aligned shelves with all sorts of weapons and armor. ”This must be the place, huh?” he thought before closing the door making another loud screech. Now he just needed to find his knives, but more specifically, the silver knife.

He walked through the room inspecting all sorts of swords, shields, spears, axes… all sorts of weapons had been stored there and he wondered what would their use be.

”Now if only I could find my knives…” he whispered, as he reached a heap of weapons, indicating that somebody might have been there before. A set of daggers lay on the floor, calling to him. They were not exactly what he was looking for, but they were probably better than a kitchen knife, so he decided to take them.

“Can’t find a bow around here though…”, he thought, remembering how Giselle had lost hers. “Maybe she was here?”

A door on the far end drifted open, letting in a beam of summery light. It was blotted out only a moment later as someone stepped inside. Whoever it was held their arms strangely, supporting something that was lost as he blinked in the sudden light.

His back tensed immediately and in an act of nervousness, Darren dropped most of the knives onto the floor. He cursed under his breath as he turned towards the door slowly.

“Wh...Who’s there?” he asked, trying to hide his fear, though he knew he had failed the moment he heard his voice echo in the room.

The figure stepped farther in, away from the now-wavering door. Her eyes were wide open--the room must have been dark to her--and serious, staring in his direction. She held a crossbow in steady hands.

Darren squinted and tried to recognize the figure by the doorway. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember who she was. He slowly tried to step back, trying to avoid stepping on the discarded weapons.

“...Who is it?” he asked again, “did I… meet you before?”

She stayed motionless for a long moment. “You’re… You were in the kitchen, right?” She began walking down a row of hanging cudgels toward him; her hand was still by her weapon’s trigger, but at least it was pointed away from him now.

“Oh…” Darren answered with relief. “You’re… Mirae, right?” he wasn’t sure if he remembered her that much, but at least he didn’t have to fight through to get away. He looked at the weapons scattered around his feet. “I guess you found this room before I did, huh?”

“Not long ago,” she said, ducking under a shelf. She straightened, and spoke abruptly. “Have you seen anyone else? People who didn’t just wake up here?”

“I don’t think so…” he answered as he begun to pick up the daggers he had dropped. “Most of the rooms were empty too.” He paused, as he tried to attach the daggers to the inner part of his cloak. “You think they found some sort of exit?”

“There must be one. Either that or they have a butchery and bakery tucked away somewhere.” She watched him with interest. “More knives,” she muttered, not quite softly enough for him to miss it.

Darren shrugged. “It’s not like I can use anything else.” He lowered his gaze to a blade resting on the ground. He gently kicked the hilt, making it slide on the floor away from them. “It’s not like I need anything else” he whispered, turning back to Mirae again. “The silver one is still missing though. And I couldn’t find any bows around here, even though there’s… plenty to choose from. Maybe I should take some of these with me after all…”

“Really? I found some shortbows earlier.” Mirae looked back at the door, scanning the shelves lit by the sun. She shook her head after a moment, though. “It doesn’t matter.” She hesitated, then inched nearer the door he had come through. “Good luck.”

“W...Wait!” Darren stuttered as he walked towards the door. “You probably have a better sense of direction than me, so…” he hesitated, but it was this or remain lost during who knows how many hours more, checking random empty rooms. “mind if we look for some sort of exit?”

Mirae turned back to him, surprised. “I-- I was going to try through the forest outside,” she said, jerking her head sideways. Her eyes had narrowed. “Are you sure you want to come with?”

“Well, I’m probably not the most dependable, but…” he spoke under his breath. “Well, I don’t have any other idea to get out of here. B...Besides, what are you going to do if somebody gets too close to use your crossbow?” he looked away embarrassed, as if he was doubting Mirae’s abilities. She probably was a better fighter than him, he thought.

He felt Mirae’s stare on him before she replied. “All right. Just don’t try hiding knives behind your back again. It doesn’t work.” He had to catch her slight smile before he realized she was joking. Mirae made her way over to the inner door.

He swiftly caught up with her, feeling his face blush. “I guess I should lead the way then” he said as he walked ahead of her. They walked in silence for a while. Darren tried to remember the turns he had taken before he turned up at the armory, but his memory failed him. The halls didn’t have anything to differentiate them from each other, so by the time they reached a fork he had no idea which way to go.

“Any ideas?”

“Not that way,” Mirae said hurriedly. “Crazy man with a fake eye.” She started leading down the other way, tensing at every door they passed. “Keep an eye out for somewhere with food?”

“If I could remember the halls that lead to the kitchen we could go there, but otherwise I don’t think there is going to be anything inside these rooms.” He tried to prove his point by peeking through the nearest door, opening it just enough to gaze into the room without being discovered. He let out a gasp and closed the door immediately. The sound of a small explosion and crystal breaking could be heard on the hallway. “Alright, let’s get out of here” he said before grabbing Mirae and dragging her away through the hallway.

A trickle of orange smoke crept under the door behind them.

Mirae ran alongside him, calling out turns before they reached them and occasionally tugging him onto a new path. “I think that way’s some sort of communal bedroom,” she said, nodding in the direction of a solid wall as they slowed back to a walk. “Most of the ones are individual, but there are some that can hold… ten? Twenty?” She shrugged. “But I don’t remember a door on this side. I don’t think I’ve been through this part.”

“Perhaps we should mark this spot?” Darren said as he pulled out a knife from his cloak and inserted it into the wooden floor near the wall to their right. “Let’s just hope nobody thinks of pulling this out…” he said as he stood up and began to walk.

They followed the hallways for another while, before winding up at a bigger room. Chairs were scattered in a big circle around the room, and there was a large window at one end. “Hey, look! Perhaps we can get out through the window.”

Mirae looked at him uncertainly. “I’d like to find some supplies first. We could always go back and get outside through the armory.”

“Alright, at least we know the way back…” Darren said before heading back to the door, looking back at the window that could be their exit. He could have sworn he felt a small tremor then, making the window vibrate in place. The next moment, the tremor was gone. ”Perhaps I’m just imagining things” he thought, before closing the door and heading back with Mirae.

They passed through the point marked with the dagger. Darren frowned as he saw the dagger he had used. “Hey, isn’t this the dagger you had cast magic on?” he asked Mirae, before he picked it up and tried throwing it away. The dagger flew into a straight line but it quickly changed its trajectory as soon as it passed a nearby door, hitting the metal doorknob. “Yep, that’s the o… whoa, I remember you!” he shouted all of a sudden.

“Wait-- Darren?” Mirae braced herself against the wall, suddenly unsteady, before she threw back her head and laughed. “I didn’t know you still had that.”

“Well… it saved me from a giant armor monster, so of course I would keep it…” he answered, feeling slightly hurt. “It’s good to see you still alive though… considering what happened the last time I saw you”

“Ah… That wasn’t the best of times.” She relaxed, her grin fading back to a smile. “I’m glad you’re still around. Even if it’s… here.” She gestured to the wooden walls.

“Well… at least we found a way out, right?” he smiled with relief, though he still felt slightly shocked at having his memories return so suddenly. “Now if I could find the stuff I had before we got here… anyway, you still going back for supplies?”

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. “I still need to get out of… Fey.” The curse came from under her breath, as she stared at a knot on the far wall. “Marcus.” Without another word, she started running down the hallway.

“Wait! What’s wrong?” Darren said, immediately giving chase, but by the time he turned the corner she was no longer there. ”She’s fast...” he thought, dumbfounded. ”Well, I guess if she survived that then she will be fine. Might as well get out of this place.” he spoke to himself and headed for the room with the large window, wondering why they were there in the first place.

Why should we do the right thing?-Well... because it's the right thing to do, there's no other good reason.

Am I a bad guy trying to be good, or a good guy trying to convince himself that he's not the bad guy?